Six Flags sues Gerstlauer over fatal Texas Giant accident

I believe Six Flags has a case. Gerstlauer is responsible for the design of the restraint and control system that gave the "go" signal in a situation where the rider was not properly restrained, through not fault of her own or the ride host's.

Seems like somewhat of a slippery slope on Six Flag's part by saying that one of the products you offered was dangerous.

Also seems like a slippery slope to keep this in the news, when it very well could come down to the fact that operators weren't trained to look at where the lap bar was touching the guest. Doesn't make me feel confident about overall training if proper rider positioning isn't covered.

I don't think you can ask ride ops to judge whether or not the bar is touching in the right place. The manufacturer should know where it is going to contact and restrain the guests. If the bar is all the way down against the guest's torso then that should be it as far as the ride op is concerned.

Seems like somewhat of a slippery slope on Six Flag's part by saying that one of the products you offered was dangerous.

Indeed.

Separately, will Medusa Steel Coaster (awful name, by the way) still use Gerstlauer rolling stock?

No, Medusa is getting trains from RMC, just like Outlaw Run and Goliath.

Bakeman31092 said:

I don't think you can ask ride ops to judge whether or not the bar is touching in the right place.

True, but if the manual provided to the park indicated that the operator had to ensure the bar was touching a certain part of the body, I don't think Six Flags has a case here.

There's also something to be said about suing one of the most prominent coaster manufacturers out there. I can't imagine that Gerstlauer will be in any hurry to work with Six Flags again. I don't recall SF suing Intamin after the issues with the Superman rides

They did.

Liability is a game of "sue EVERYONE with a pulse and a bank account, let the judge/jurors decide on how much contributory negligence belongs with each party" under the concept of joint liability. Of course, some states don't recognize that there may not be a single person or company to blame...in those cases, you're either liable or you're not.

PhantomTails said:

There's also something to be said about suing one of the most prominent coaster manufacturers out there. I can't imagine that Gerstlauer will be in any hurry to work with Six Flags again.

When you're selling multi-million euro attractions I think you'll sell to whoever is buying.

Right. I'm thinking it's probably Six Flags who won't be in any hurry.

Doesnt The Boss in St. Louis also use Gerstlauer trains ?

PhantomTails said:

There's also something to be said about suing one of the most prominent coaster manufacturers out there. I can't imagine that Gerstlauer will be in any hurry to work with Six Flags again. I don't recall SF suing Intamin after the issues with the Superman rides

You are so mistaken. SF doesn't give a crap about the impact suing a manufacturer would have. In fact, they are DETERMINED to sue anyone else to a) offload the jury award, b) convince the public that they weren't at fault.

With the lawsuit that the family has pending, SF would happily so anyone to offload the judgment award. In this situation, from the evidence that's out there, SF isn't at fault. After the Hydro/Perilous Plunge and Darien Lake/SFNE incidents, it's the manufacturer's responsibility to determine the restraint system that will work in 100% of all cases, if the indicators say "go",

I'm not sure if any of our actual lawyers are going to chime in, but for those of you who are interested in how this really might play out in an actual courtroom situation:

"Understanding Comparative Fault, Contributory Negligence and Joint & Several Liability" (all of these could come into play in this case, IMO).

http://www.claimsjournal.com/news/national/2013/09/05/235755.htm

You mean there's actual lawyers here?
What's next,... doctors? Rocket scientists?

^I often thought the Lemon Chill Guy was studying for the BAR between sales...

RCMAC said:

You mean there's actual lawyers here?
What's next,... doctors? Rocket scientists?

Right. Then you're gonna tell me the guy who runs the whole operation is a programmer who came up with the forums himself.

Bakeman31092 said:

I don't think you can ask ride ops to judge whether or not the bar is touching in the right place. The manufacturer should know where it is going to contact and restrain the guests. If the bar is all the way down against the guest's torso then that should be it as far as the ride op is concerned.

I wouldn't trust a 6F ride operator to tell me the name of his babymomma, let alone proper operation of a multi million dollar piece of complex machinery. That's why it's all controlled by computer programming with all kinds of redundancy and fail-safes. All the op has to do is push a button and let the rocket surgeons who designed it take responsibility.

"Rocket surgeons?"..they're cross-breeding now?